The Irish standard., 1887-02-12
TIFF GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND.' 2

''THE GOVERNMENT OF lRELA&D. Z
T. A recent issue of the Nineteenth
Century contains an excellent article
from the pen of MIR. John Morley, in
reply to Mr. Dicey's book on Home
! Rule for Ireland. The article in ques-
ton is without doubt the ablest and
most conclusive that has vet made It's
appearance on this subject. Mr.. Nor
ley considers that circumstance, occa'
sion, the conjunctnre of things
and that critical agency in pc
litical causatiou. which men vaguely
call the force Of events, have as much
to Go with the movement Tor Home
! Rule as either intellectual conviction OF
social feeling ''We may have often,
he SAYS, "slumbering in our minds the
major premiss and the minor; 1t IS the
demand of events that awakens us tc
the conclusion. Although the moral
atmosphere may have supplied favor
able medium for Home Rule, yet, what
ever may be it's ultimate fate, its rapid
advance to strong position has taken
place exactly as Catholic Emancipa,
tion and Free Trade Won their way
that is to say, under the impulse OF
practical necessities and the great ex'
pediencies Of the occasion. The gen
eral arguments for Emancipation were
as strong in 1900 as in 1929; the new
fact which put them in different hight
| was the Clare election. Golden had
| nothing stronger TO urge in the summer
of 1S45 thau Mr.. Villiers and others had
urged ten years before ; the approach
of famine was what made all the differ
ence. The great mass OF arguments
and the bias of right sentiment against
negro slavery were just as cogent Ill
the early as in the last years OF CARR :
sons heroic struggle; it was the war
that at a. certain point turned Abolition
into a national cry aud identified 1T
with the triumphant cause. SO now:
the sudden progress Of Homo Rule i'll
public opinion has been due to a num-
Der of practical, ineligible, ana by no
means ignob}e considerations which
events have gradually pressed upon
meu with a constantly increasing toGce
during the last seven years Viewed
from a Liberal standpoint Mr.. Morley's
comparisons are happily made, but it
would be IL difficult thing to find all
Irishman who would be willing to ad-
init that the justice OF the Irish cause
was creature of the present decade.
But apart from this, we know ct no
wrongs that have existed and been
rjghted in the past that bear more
striking resemblance to the effort that
is being made for Irish self government
than Catholic Emancipation: and pre-
viNus to 1929 the arguments that were
advanced in favor Of Emancipation
were very much in the same vein as
those now brought forward in favor OF
Home Rule. Eminent British states
men after combating the act which
conferred upon Catholics equal rights
and privileges were forced to submit to
the Inevitable, just the same as some OF
those who have thrown in their in-
tlueuce on the side Of Home Rule at the
present day.
Mr.. Morley takes Up the "change Of
venue, question with regard to trying
Irish prisoners. He says:
I'm Ireland to change the venue may
be the only step necessary for the per-
petration OF gross injustice. To send
an Orange prisoner from Belfast to be
tried at Cork, or Kerry prisoner to be
tried at Belfast, is to make sure Of the
verdict beforehand. In England the
power Of changing the scene of trial is
a security for the prisoner; in Ireland
it is an expelient against him.
Recent events do not altogether bear
Mr.. Morley out i'll this assertion. It
does not make much difference whether
a Catholic prisoner is tried in Cork,
Kerry or Belfast, the jury selected will
be composed of Orangemen, and i'm
pannelled with view OF convicting the
prisoner whether the evidence is con-
elusive or not. Ireland is probably the
only country in the world where judges
and juries can convict without Wit
nesses. In this country trial by jury is
a vital nstitution--vital, because the
whole force and life of the law resides
in tbs rectitude, prolnptitude, impair
tia1ity and reasonable certainty OF ap.
plication. In Ireland the law is admin
istered with promptitude and q, reason
able certainty Of application, but not
with rectitude or impartiahty, and trial
by jury in that unfortunate country has
ceased to be anything more than a
farce.
Taking Mr.. Morley's article as a
whole it is an fsble argument in favor
Of Home Rule, and treats the subject in
j most intelligent manner, It will af-
ford an interesting study for those who
desire to learn the opinions current in
with regard to Ireland.
HON SEAGRAVE SMITH FOR NUDGE,